So yesterday, I picked up my 2010 Audi S4 and I figure that I'll use this thread to explain my first impressions and then update as I drive it more.
Wow. That's all I can really say when comparing the S4 to the Subaru. I picked up the car last night from the dealership and put about 60km on it before heading home and then taking my wife out for another short cruise. She loves it by the way.
It is better in all but 2 ways:
1) Steering feedback when you lose traction.
The steering on the S4 is electronic so you dont get that immediate feedback that you've lost grip. Last night, it was snowing a fair bit and I used that opportunity to test how the car went around corners. I've got to say that the electronic nanny really keeps things in check, but there's a nice button on the dash that turns most of the ESP off. If you want it off completely, there's a procedure outlined in the manual. Seeing as how i'd had the car for only a couple of hours, I didn't mess with the ESP settings as it would suck to crash it that fast.
- Power. Its obviously slower... but I could count on one hand the number of times I went WOT in the Subaru in the last couple of months. The S4 is plenty fast enough and more linear. There's no turbo lag, but also no head-snapping back moment when boost kicks in. The B8 S4's are supercharged V6's so the power delivery is totally different.
Here's a dyno chart of a stock S4. Sort of disbelieve the numbers but the shape of the torque curve is quite nice.
Everything else is amazing.
The ride is so much better than the Subaru. I don't have Audi Drive Select, the adjustable suspension, but I do have the Audi Sport Diff which allows me to adjust the rear differential, the steering and the throttle. Adjusting the rear diff is definitely noticeable and has been called the
piece de resistance of the B8 S4. Steering feel is definitely tighter on dynamic but on a road trip, I think I'll be glad for the comfort setting. The throttle adjustment is there as well, but especially in winter, I dont see the need for the dynamic setting to be on. If I want 100% of my power, I'll floor it and get 100% of the throttle. While you can choose between comfort, auto and dynamic, there is also an individual setting where you can setup your own personal preference for each.
The seats are nicer and the interior is not even in the same league. Everything just works really well together and the interior is so quiet when you're cruising, its possible to have the music on low volume, still have a conversation in a normal voice and not have to worry about the volume of your exhaust. While I might end up missing a bit of the exhaust rumble of the Subaru, I think that I'll be happier 99% of the time.
The little convenience features like Advanced Key are completely unnecessary but really nice to have. With Advanced Key, you just have a key fob, no key, and it stays in your pocket the entire time. When you come within 1.5m of the car, the car knows the key is there, and with a touch of the door handle, the car is unlocked. Get in, keep the fob in your pocket, and press the start button. When you're done, foot on the brake and press the start button again, the engine shuts off. Get out of the car and touch the door handle again and the car locks itself and sets the alarm. If you forget to do this, the car locks itself after 60 seconds (can be switched off).
The way the multimedia system/nav works is really nice and the upgraded sound system is amazing. Your ipod goes into a little pocket in the glove compartment and you can go through your playlists on the main Nav screen or on the little info screen between the Speedo and Tach using the buttons on your steering wheel. Navigation can be voice activated, but I haven't played with that yet. From my brief use of the Nav system last night, I found it a bit cumbersome to enter in a destination with the scroll wheel when I was used to the touch screen of my aftermarket deck, but hopefully using Voice Command will alleviate that issue. There are two SD card slots on which you can store music, as well as a 10GB internal hard drive that you can use for music storage as well. You use the SD cards to transfer music to the car.
I was surprised when backing out of a spot yesterday when the Nav screen turned into a backup camera. I didn't know mine came with that option. Not only that, but its got guidance lines that curve as you turn to show you where the vehicle is going to go. The Audi is definitely bigger than the Subaru so its not an unwelcome addition. Its got backup sensors as well so that's nice when backing up into my garage.
Its got the blind spot warning system which lights up an LED on the sideview mirror when someone is in your blind spot or approaching it at a much different speed. I was just getting used to that, when I tried to merge onto Deerfoot in heavy/slow traffic and it thought the person behind was too close. The LED's flash brightly as soon as you signal your lane change.
Overall, as to be expected, I am extremely happy with the purchase. There are plenty of other options out there in this price range, but nothing really did it for me like the S4 did. I think that the S4 strikes the balance perfectly between an AWD, capable car in all weather conditions, fast enough to pass on the highway without the panic, and comfortable enough that we can take it on road trips. I love the look of the car and find that the added weight isn't all that noticeable. If I was planning to track it or autocross, then it would be a different story, but that's not what this car is for. If you want that, then the M3 is probably a better bet and you sacrifice the AWD capability.
I will update as I get more comfortable with the car and figure it out a bit more.
IB Western Audi Club
